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I've added another 1 TB Western Digital disk on my computer (there is a disk with 250 GB already), and after booting to Windows 7, it recognise the disk, but in the Disk Management panel, it says the disk has only 31 MB TOTAL space, so is what it shows in the EVEREST information.

And when I rebooted the computer and entered BIOS, it said the new disk has 0 MB disk capacity.

Is there any way to fix this problem?

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  • I'm confused. Are you saying that it detects the size as 31MB, or that it only has 31MB free of 1TB?
    – user3463
    Oct 22, 2009 at 9:15
  • Also, is it listing a partition maybe that windows doesn't recognize in the Disk Management Utility?
    – Unfundednut
    Oct 22, 2009 at 9:17

6 Answers 6

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For whatever reason the drive is mis-reporting its size. To fix this you need to go to http://blog.atola.com/ and download "Atola Technology HDD Restore Capacity Tool." Launch the program and select the drive that you are having the problem with. Click the Restore Capacity button. When it is finished fixing your disk you should shut down your computer and leave it off for at least 10 seconds before turning it on again. When you boot your computer your disk should be back to its correct capacity.

See Restore factory Hard Drive Capacity When HDD Shows up as 32MB for more info.

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  • 1
    Great answer, but could you please elaborate on it a little?
    – Ivo Flipse
    Apr 13, 2010 at 19:27
  • @Ivo Elaborated as requested
    – Shane Kearney
    Apr 14, 2010 at 9:22
  • Awesome! Though you already had my upvote ;-)
    – Ivo Flipse
    Apr 14, 2010 at 11:43
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It seems there's a problem with LBA (Logical Block Addressing) setting. Here is a topic on the same problem where last post offers a solution:

I had a similar problem where I purchased a new WD10EADS 1TB hard drive and it only recognized 32MB. I found the installation guide on the WD website and it recommended changing the BIOS setting for the drive to LBA (Logical Block Addressing). The BIOS still only saw 32MB, but when I rebooted Vista saw the entire disk and I was able to format/partition/etc.

Link to the pdf mentioned in the post.

From another topic on the subject here

The problem is the LBA size setting within the drive gets corrupted, overwritten by a number around 32MB. Drive manufacturers have tools to fix it, restoring the setting to its original (native) value. What actually causes the setting to be changed? The fact that it affects multiple drive vendors and multiple SATA controllers means almost certainly it's another Windows bug.

Samsung for example offers a tool that can be used to restore LBA settings as described here

  • Download Samsung's ES Tool. I burned the ISO image [1.86MB] onto CD.
  • Boot and run. ES Tool detected my Sil3114 card and HD103UJ no problem.
  • Under VIEW INFORMATION menu option the problem became evident:
    • Current Size 31 MB (LBA: 65134)
    • Native Size 953869 MB (LBA: 1953525168)
  • Under "SET MAX ADDRESS" menu option choose "Recover Native Size". NB. Don't use "LBA MODE | Process" because that option needs to wipe your data.
  • Reboot. Drive reappears in all its 931.51GB

Don't use the tool with WD disk since Samsung states it should only be used with their disks. You could ask WD support if they have some similar tool.

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Use this software:

http://blog.atola.com/restoring-factory-hard-drive-capacity/

It seems that many 1TB hard disks are recognized as 32MB on Win 7, the above software helped me to fix the problem!!

Instructions:

Good luck!

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I think you mean 30GB, not 30MB. This is possibly a BIOS problem in detecting the correct size of the drive.

There's a reasonable answer here for ways to go about resolving the problem, if in fact it is BIOS-related.

To summarise what he suggests:

  • Flash the BIOS to the latest version
  • If this doesn't work, overlay software from the disk manufacturer can be used to partition and format the drive, so that the correct size can be seen after the initial launch of the POST. But ... this is not a good, practical solution, as unusual problems often occur due to the use of software of this kind
  • A PCI card can be installed that adds IDE slots and support for larger disks.
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  • Careful when flashing BIOS! This had better be done by a professional.
    – harrymc
    Oct 22, 2009 at 9:31
  • What constitutes a professional BIOS flasher? :-)
    – user3463
    Oct 22, 2009 at 10:22
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    @Randolph: Someone who understands the dangers and knows how to prepare for them.
    – harrymc
    Oct 22, 2009 at 10:32
  • Or by the strict definition, someone who gets paid for flashing BIOSes. Probably going to be hard to find :P
    – RJFalconer
    Apr 14, 2010 at 9:56
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Before taking Randolph Potter's advice:

Before flashing the BIOS, boot into it (see on the boot screen which key to press), and examine this hard disk. It might be that the disk is set to the wrong type in the BIOS, which is why Windows is getting confused. Normally the disk type should be set to "Auto" or something similar.

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  • In my defence, it's not my advice - I was simply summarising someone else's suggestion. OP still hasn't responded with whether the 30MB vs 30GB is a true assessment.
    – user3463
    Oct 22, 2009 at 10:21
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I have two of the WD10EADS from NEW. One is mine and the other is my brother's which he can't use because his BIOS is too old. I use mine on my GA-G31m-ES2L and it works brilliantly. When I try to store stuff on his I can't. It doesn't detect full size. Even setting the Precomp/hd/lz etc.. it only says 300 Gb approx.

I will try whese methods above as the HD couldn't have passed quality control if it was Nackered New. I'll Return with results.

PS: 31 Megabyte is detected in BIOS and Windows XP and 7. I guess this would be the Buffer 32 MB (32 MB / 1.024 = 31.25 ?)

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